Taking It Home for Sunday, March 24th

Spirit Play (4-5 year olds):

This week's story is called "Hey Little Ant", and it is based on our Seventh, Violet colored Promise: to value our home, Earth, that we share with all living things. With this story, our children will consider how we treat the living things around us, even those as small as ants.

Wondering Questions:

I wonder which part of this story is the most important?

I wonder which part you like the best?

I wonder where you are in this story?

I wonder how the boy would feel if he were the ant and the ant were the boy?

I wonder if the ant should get squished?

I wonder if the ant should go free?

I wonder what the boy will decide to do?

I wonder what you would do?

I wonder who you are in this story?

I wonder if you ever felt like the ant?

I wonder if you have ever done something just because your friends wanted you to do it?

I wonder if you have ever done something and then wished you hadn’t?

I wonder if one ant is all that important to the world?

I wonder if one of any species is all that important to the world?

I wonder if there are other promises that would go with this story?

General Promise Questions:

I wonder if you have ever made a promise?

I wonder which promise you like the best?

I wonder how it feels when we keep a promise?

I wonder what happens when we keep a promise?

I wonder if it is easy or hard to keep a promise?

I wonder what happens when a promise is broken?

I wonder what here is most important?

I wonder how it feels to be on this rainbow path?

Grades K-2: Wonderful Welcome

Taking It Home, Session 9: The Gift of Mutual Caring

 We know from science that nothing in the universe exists as an isolated or independent entity. – Margaret Wheatley, American author and management consultant

IN TODAY’S SESSION… The children learned about how animals are trained to help people with disabilities. They learned that animals’ potential to be useful to humans speaks to a deeper, seventh Principle connection that can exist beyond the feeding and shelter of pets. The children made biscuits to take to (or raise money for) an animal shelter and heard a story, Leila Raises a Puppy, about a family that raised a puppy and prepared it for training to be a guide dog. 

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGEHER. Talk about… How are members of your family connected with animals? Do you have a pet? What contact has your family had with animals that assist people with special needs? When has your child had opportunities to interact with farm animals?

Talk about animals that members of your family have known, and how you have loved and/or taken care of them. Identify elements of mutual caring in your relationship with specific animals. If you have a family pet, point out that when your child helps with its care, they earn the pet’s affection and loyalty.

EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try… Sit together outside your home and see how many animals you notice. Even urban areas offer opportunities to see animals in their natural habitat, such as squirrels, insects and birds of many kinds. Notice what the animals are doing. Are they searching for food? Are they playing together?

FAMILY ADVENTURE

Is there is a petting zoo in your area? Go as a family to a small-scale zoo that provides safe, direct interaction with animals. Often a petting zoo allows visitors to feed as well as touch animals.

FAMILY DISCOVERY

Part of a mutually caring relationship is to protect the other party from harm. As a family, go outdoors and practice caring for wild animal friends by leaving them alone. Talk about how wildlife is part of the environment that humans enjoy. Share your knowledge about how human actions affect wildlife. At a local pond, for example, tell your children, that feeding scraps of bread to waterfowl can actually harm them. Online, find information on encounters with animals in the wild, such as a Wildlife Safety (www.nps.gov/kefj/planyourvisit/wildlife-safety.htm) section of the National Park Service website or this information onNational Parks and Safety Tips (ezinearticles.com/?National-Parks-and-Wildlife-Safety-Tips&id=661665) from Ezine Articles.

Grades 3-5: Love Will Guide Us

Taking It Home, Session 4: Love in Our Congregation

The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life. — Jane Addams, American social activist and 1931 Nobel Peace Prize recipient

IN TODAY'S SESSION... the group learned about Jesus' life through a story, "Meet Jesus," based on passages from Christian scripture. They explored the fourth Unitarian Universalist Source, "Jewish and Christian teachings which tell us to love all other as we love ourselves," learning that Jesus preached and demonstrated the importance of taking care of everyone in a community. The children identified communities they belong to, talked about what being a community means, and worked together on human sculptures.

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... Jesus' message of love and his ability to use love to create community wherever he went. Explore the meaning of community in your own life. What communities are important to you?

EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Online, learn about Jesus and Christianity from a Unitarian Universalist perspective (www.uua.org/visitors/beliefswithin/6633.shtml) . Read five UU perspectives in the pamphlet UU Views of Jesus (www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=514) , edited by Bruce Southworth. Read resources about UU Christianity from the UU Christian Fellowship(www.uuchristian.org/R_Welcome.html) website.

The UUA Bookstore (www.uuabookstore.org/) offers Our Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism by John A. Buehrens and F. Forrest Church (Beacon Press, 1989). Highly recommended for leaders of this program, this book presents two essays focused on each of the six Sources of Unitarian Universalism. The UUA Bookstore also offers:

• Meet Jesus: The Life and Lessons of a Beloved Teacher by Lynn Tuttle Gunney (Skinner House, 2007)
• Unitarian Universalism Is a Really Long Name by Jennifer Dant and Anne Carter (Skinner House, 2008)
• What If Nobody Forgave and Other Stories by Colleen McDonald (Skinner House, 2003).

A Family Ritual. If you read to your children on a regular basis, consider adding the parables of Jesus to your repertoire. You might read:

• The Parables and Miracles of Jesus by Mary Hoffman (Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2007)
• Tomie dePaola's Book of Bible Stories, Tomie dePaola (Putnam Juvenile, 2002).

Middle School: Riddle and Mystery

ANSWERING TODAY'S BIG QUESTION

What do family members have to say about why bad things happen? Why to they think good things happen?

TRYING SOME SUPERSTITIONS

Try out some good-luck superstitions to see if they work. If you say a hopeful thought aloud, knock on a piece of wood with your knuckles so speaking your hopes aloud will not doom your chances; then say "Knock on wood." Cross your fingers when you hope for something (some people think this gesture is a way to make the sign of the Christian cross to keep the Devil away). Pick a four-leaf clover for good luck, if you can find one. Bring a frog into your house for good luck! What other superstitions have you heard? (Search on the Internet for more, if you wish.) After a few days, talk about whether your luck has improved.

Talk about what superstitions are, what they mean to you. Did you ever believe in the power of superstitions? What do you think makes superstitions survive?

REFLECT ON YOUR BELIEFS

People say, "Misery loves company." Is that true? Get together with some other people and talk about bad things that have happened to you. Does it feel good to do that? Do you still feel better a few hours later? Together talk about good things that have happened or are happening to you. Does that feel different? Better?

SHARED SEARCH

Does your family have stories about very good things or very bad things that have happened to individuals? Which stories are told most often? Have you appreciated the good things and overcome the bad ones? If not, what more can you do? Was there a time when somebody had what seemed like bad luck but it turned into good luck?

PHOTO CHALLENGE

Photograph the results of somebody's good action. Share the photograph with others and ask why they think the good thing happened.

FAMILY FAITH IN ACTION

Find out about cooperative games to play at your next family gathering. Cooperative games are non-competitive. Nobody wins, so nobody loses. The Learning For Life (www.learning-for-life.org/exploring/resources/99-720/x08.pdf) website describes some cooperative games. Other sites include Creative Kids at Home (www.creativekidsathome.com/games/cooperative_games/) and Peace First(www.peacefirst.org/site/) .

High School: Our Name is Earl

"Cost Dad the Election"

Sometimes it is difficult to remember that our parents are still people. As Unitarian Universalists, we must treat them with the same respect and kindness that we promise to give to every human being. Our Seven Principles are a covenant of behavior that has no exceptions. Even though our relationships with our parents are often very emotional, we still have to treat them with dignity and respect and remember that they are learning as well. As we are on our paths to be adults, our parents are on a path to be parents. We must accept

each other where we are and lovingly encourage each other to growth (Principle Three). In the episode, Earl's father doesn't seem to respect Earl as an individual or accept where he is on his path. Likewise, Earl doesn't necessarily accept where his father is on HIS path. At the end, however, they come to an understanding. Earl's father understands that Earl was trying to do the right thing and bails him out. Earl understands that bailing him out of jail is his father's way of recognizing his hard work on his list. While their relationship isn't perfect, they chose to accept one another and see the good that IS there.